4 players who need to step up for Penn State to prevail against West Virginia

The Nittany Lions have finished their preparations for one of the biggest Week 1 matchups in college football. It has been a long, yet promising offseason for Penn State, as they shaped their 2025 recruiting class, and continued to develop their aspiring roster in spring and summer training camp. 

James Franklin’s squad were ranked No. 8 in the preseason AP poll. Now with the College Football Playoff expanded from four to 12 teams starting in this 2024 season, Penn State can afford a couple of losses and still have a solid chance to get in. There is no doubt more room for error for Franklin, however, this comes with raised expectations.

Penn State comes into Morgantown as a 7.5-point favorite, per DraftKings. The public is betting more on West Virginia, as the spread opened up two points higher in Penn State’s favor. This is a tough test for Penn State, a week one battle against a very good Big 12 team in West Virginia. Penn State will need players to step up and make sure the Nittany Lions cruise into week two at 1-0.

Here are four players that I believe need to step up and lead the team to a victory on Saturday afternoon:

Trey Wallace is entering his redshirt junior season as the team’s premier wide receiver. All reports about Wallace in camp have been positive, and head coach James Franklin commented on Wallace during a summer media session.

“He’s had a great summer so far. He had a really good spring and we’re expecting him to have a big year for us, we need him to have a big year for us,” Franklin continued, “super athletic, probably one of the most explosive guys we have in our program.” Wallace was riddled with injuries last season, only appearing in eight games. In those games, he had 19 receptions for 228 yards and one touchdown. 

With the departure of KeAndre Lambert-Smith, the Nittany Lions need a couple of wide receivers to step up. It seems like Wallace will start on the outside with Omari Evans, whom Franklin has also thoroughly praised throughout the offseason, and Liam Clifford in the slot. 

Among them all, I believe Wallace is the one who needs to step up the most. He’s the most talented and explosive guy in the receiver room, and he needs to showcase that against the Mountaineers. Wallace had 7 catches for 72 yards in last year’s battle with West Virginia, and the Nittany Lions will need another one of those performances from Wallace on Saturday.

Dennis-Sutton enters his junior season as a starting edge rusher in Tom Allen’s defense. He totaled 6.5 sacks in his college career and 9.5 tackles for loss. Dennis-Sutton will be counted on to step up and make West Virginia starting quarterback Garrett Greene flustered in the pocket. He will be counted on to help contain Greene in the pocket, as Greene is a very efficient and elusive runner. He totaled 772 rushing yards with 13 rushing touchdowns in his 2023 campaign.

This list could have involved Abdul Carter instead of Dennis-Sutton, but all Penn State fans know and expect Abdul Carter to play well every time he steps on the field. With Dennis-Sutton, this is his breakout year, and if he does play well, he and Carter off each edge could shut down the entire West Virginia offense.

This one might be the most surprising, but Penn State fans should understand how good DeLuca is on the field at all times. Named as a team captain for his redshirt junior season, DeLuca enters it as the starting strongside linebacker for Tom Allen’s defense. Allen’s defensive scheme is a 4-2-5, which includes two linebackers and five defensive backs. Allen is conservative, keeping the ball in front of his defense, and hones in on turnovers and tackling.

I have DeLuca on this list, but the point is that the entire linebacker core will be counted on for Saturday’s clash. DeLuca had two interceptions and two forced fumbles last season, so that’s why he is here and not Kobe King or Tony Rojas.

West Virginia will run the ball a lot, unless they are losing by a wide margin. Greene is not the greatest thrower of the football., and relies more on his feet to create big plays and sustain drives. He only had a 53% completion percentage last year, and West Virginia will run him and running backs CJ Donaldson, who had 81 rushing yards on 45 yards per carry against Penn State last season, and sophomore Jahiem White. 

Penn State needs DeLuca and the entire LB room to create a takeaway or two, and contain the rushing attack from West Virginia’s ground-and-pound offense.

This one should not be a surprise, and Allar’s name needs to be on this list. For Penn State to win this game, Allar is going to have to manage this game and be efficient in Andy Kotelnicki’s offense. Allar threw for 325 yards and three touchdowns on 72% completion percentage against West Virginia last season. He led the Nittany Lions to 27 first downs, ten more than the Mountaineers had. 

Allar will need the running game of Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen to open up the pass. However, just the presence of Singleton and Allen might be able to do the job. West Virginia ran a 3-4 base defense last season, and they will focus on stopping the run against one of the best running back duos in college football. This should allow for Allar to throw the ball freely, and the receivers to get better matchups with just four defensive backs.

Allar will need a really good game to go into Morgantown and grab a victory on Saturday. His play and performance in this game and throughout the entire year will shape Penn State’s season into a dream or a disappointment.